The company is thus trying to make everyone aware that XP will be soon retired

Windows XP continues to be the second top OS in the world

Microsoft keeps struggling to move people from Windows XP to a newer operating system, so today the company rolled out a downloadable gadget that counts the days left until end of support arrives.

Windows XP will be officially discontinued next year on April 8, so Microsoft hopes that with the countdown gadget more users will know that they have to jump ship and abandon Windows XP.

Paradoxically, the gadget works only on Windows Vista and Windows 7 so, just like WindowsObserver writes, there’s no support for Windows XP at all.

“Looking to get off Windows XP? Use this handy gadget to count down the number of days until Windows XP End of Support (EOS) in 2014,” Microsoft says in the description of the app.

As usual, simply download the gadget and, in case you’re running Windows Vista or Windows 7, just try to launch it and all files will be automatically installed on your computer.

Update: it turns out that this gadget isn't actually new, but Microsoft has recently reposted it on its main Download Center page. And given the fact that the company still strives to move people from Windows XP, it's definitely worth a look.